January 14. Major Wilson led A and B Groups on a Ramrod to Hallendorf on the first of three separate missions that day. Thirty Mustangs picked up the second box of 2nd TF/2AD bombers at noon and escorted them to the target area. At 1340, they picked up more B-24s near Brunswick and escorted them to the Dutch Coast. Escort was broken at 1500. They returned to sweep the Zwolle area, shot up several locomotives and other road targets, and then returned home. Major Bud Fortier took C Group, comprised of fifteen 354FS Mustangs to Cologne to escort First Division B-17s. They arrived in the Koblenz area at 1234 and swept from Koblenz to Siegen to Cologne at 30,000 feet. Nuthouse reported bandits west of Bonn but Bud’s squadron of 51s didnt find them. They dropped to 12,000 feet near the Hangelar airfield, loitered for awhile and then turned for home at 1430. V-2s were spotted launching from a forest East of Cologne and flak in the area was described as intense, heavy and accurate. Unknown to Fortier at the time, those fighters escorting the Third Division B-17s in the Berlin area were having a field day. The 357th FG bounced approximately 200 fighters of JG300 and shot down 56 for the loss of three to set the final ETO record for a single group. Lt.Col. Evans and Lt. John Kirla scored four; Maj. Storch, Capt. Bank, Maxwell and Lt. Banks destroyed three each. Lt. Johnny Sublett was one of several scoring doubles. The Luftwaffe units hit the hardest were JG 300, including I., II. (Sturm), III., and IV./JG 300 losing 29 KIA, 3 MIA and 60 FW 190 and Bf 109s. The 357FG was credited with 55.5-2-4 air and 1-0 ground. Major Elder led 12 more P-51s as 355 D Group on the third effort on the day from 1235 to 1620. The influx of the last of the straggler Mustangs which landed at other bases days earlier made it possible to put up an impromptu effort. Elder took one wingman from 357FS plus two more flights of 354FS ships for a Free Lance Sweep. Up at 1235 they first patrolled an area just south of Munster at 1400. At 1430 they sighted ten Me 109s climbing to engage from 10,000 feet. Elder called the bounce and immediately shot one of the 109s down, while 354FS Lieutenant Mills shot down two Me109s and Woods and Decklar nailed one each before the rest dove away. Shortly afterwards Nuthouse vectored them to an area east of Meppen about 35 miles southwest of Dummer Lake where the ten Mustangs engaged 13 FW 190s. Nine of the FW 190s were flying in trail with four long nose FW 190Ds flying top cover. Six FW 190s including the four long nose 190Ds were quickly shot down for no losses. Major Graham and Kemper each shot down a pair of the escorts while Lieutenants Decklar and Mills added one FW 190 each to their earlier scores. There is still some confusion regarding the German unit which fought the 355th but experten Vogt from II./JG26 was buried further south making JG26 the unlikely victim. About the same time elements of the 78th FG engaged a staffel of FW 190As and FW 190Ds from JG26 and also shot down 11 for no losses between Koblenz and Cologne, further to the south from the 355th. The possible German units in that area include elements of JG1, JG2, JG3, JG4, JG26, JG27 and 15./JG54 In all the 8th Fighter Command was credited with 157.5-6-25 air and 3-5 ground for the highest single day total in the ETO. Gordon Grahams double made him the Group s sixteenth air ace and one of the fastest to achieve the total of five air victories. In order, only Marshall, Olson, and Brown achieved ace status with fewer missions. Final score 11-0-2 for no losses
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 16:45:37 +0000
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